


Namesake

by LadyKes



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Just Add Kittens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 21:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11997873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKes/pseuds/LadyKes
Summary: Jack Robinson and a kitten.  Do you need more of a summary than that?





	Namesake

**Author's Note:**

> In celebration of being given 3000 kudos on AO3 (thank you!) and to test the new [Miss Fisher Fic Feed tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ao3feed-mfmm) I just made.

There was a kitten on his constable’s shoulder. Jack blinked to be sure that the excessive heat hadn’t started causing him to see things, but there was still a kitten on his constable’s shoulder. It seemed quite content to be there, honestly, and Jack watched as it settled down into a small dark brown ball of striped fluff. 

Still, kittens on shoulders did require some investigation, and Jack cleared his throat to attract Collins’ attention. His constable turned from what he’d been doing and the kitten shifted to stay exactly where it was. Jack suppressed a smile and spoke in his most repressive tones.

“Constable, you are out of uniform,” he informed Collins. 

Collins glanced down in panic as if his trousers had suddenly disappeared, but as they were (fortunately for all) still there, he looked at Jack in confusion.

“Sir?”

“The kitten, Constable,” Jack said patiently. “That is not an official element of your uniform. We can’t have Constables patrolling the streets with small felines on their person.”

Collins appeared to have genuinely forgotten that the kitten was there, but once reminded, he smiled and then gently lifted the kitten down so that it was on the desk. Jack wasn’t sure that was a better location for a kitten, especially one that might be prone to exploring.

“Oh. Right, sir. Sorry, sir.”

“Would you care to tell me why you have a kitten, Constable?”

“Someone brought them in, sir,” Collins explained, which wasn’t much of an explanation at all. Jack had not, in fact, presumed that the kittens had spontaneously appeared in the station, though there were times he thought about getting a cat for the cells. They had a bit of a rodent problem now and then, and he wasn’t talking about “Ratface” Smith. 

“And why would they do that?” he asked patiently. He thought he was exhibiting a remarkable amount of patience in this entire conversation, really.

“Well, it’s so hot, sir, that a good samaritan was worried they’d die in the heat. They were in a crate outside the station.”

“They? How many felines do we now have serving at City Central?”

“Three, sir, but I’ve already found homes for two of them. This is the last. Dottie’s planning to take it home and see if Mr Butler wants it as a mouser, but she can’t come get it until lunchtime.”

The kitten was batting gently at Collins’ pen so that it would roll off the table and Collins caught the pen just in time. 

“Good reflexes, Collins,” Jack had to say. Those would and did serve Collins well when they were in a situation requiring quick responses. 

“Thank you, sir,” Collins replied, and then picked up the kitten again and cuddled it. It really wasn’t very good for the serious image of the police to have their desk constable cuddling a kitten when complainants arrived, though Jack suspected that Miss Williams would find the image quite endearing.

“You said the kitten will be gone by lunchtime?” Jack confirmed, and Collins nodded. Jack sighed as he came to a decision.

“Alright, give me the kitten. I’ll keep it in my office so that it doesn’t wander into the street or get underfoot until Miss Williams arrives to claim it.”

Collins seemed surprised that Jack would offer to take the kitten, but handed it over quickly all the same. Jack could hold it easily in one hand, though it was more secure in two. It couldn’t be more than two months old or weigh more than a pound, the poor thing. 

The kitten looked up at him with that unfocused stare of young creatures and Jack couldn’t resist petting it on its little head. The kitten closed its eyes in feline bliss and began to purr loudly. He heard Collins suppress a laugh by turning it into a cough and glanced up from the kitten.

“I’ll be in my office. Please let me know when Miss Williams arrives,” he said seriously, and turned as Collins was assenting. 

He shut the door and put the kitten down on his desk, then returned to his endless paperwork as the cat batted at a stray scrap of paper.

“Well, Miss Fisher,” he addressed the kitten. He had no idea whether the kitten was male or female, but it wasn’t a permanent name anyway. He just couldn’t call the creature “it”.

“It seems we’re going to be friends for the next few hours. Do try not to cause more chaos in my life than your namesake.”

He had no hope of that, just as he had no hope of the kitten’s namesake not causing chaos. In both cases, though, it was remarkably difficult to be permanently angry. Jack resigned himself to fallen pens just as he’d resigned himself to interfered-with investigations.


End file.
